Peter Crouch's knack of scoring for England - despite being well down Fabio Capello's pecking order - surfaced again as he struck after only four minutes of the World Cup qualifier against Belarus at Wembley.

The Tottenham striker netted his 17th goal in 35 internationals when he converted a cross from Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Crouch also headed just wide as England dominated the opening 45 minutes and held a 1-0 half-time lead, despite fielding a much-changed line-up.

Fabio Capello handed first competitive England starts to Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor and Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster for the World Cup qualifier against Belarus at Wembley.

In total Capello made six changes from the side which had been beaten 1-0 away by Ukraine on Saturday.

Wayne Bridge, Gareth Barry, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Peter Crouch were also brought back into the starting XI.

The suspended Robert Green, the injured duo of Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard, plus Ashley Cole, Michael Carrick and Emile Heskey were missing from the line-up which started in Dnipropetrovsk.

Heskey, who has expressed concerns over his club future at Aston Villa because of a lack of starts under Martin O'Neill, was not even named among the substitutes.

David Beckham was back on the bench after being left out entirely against Ukraine. England were looking for a winning finale to their World Cup qualification campaign and Shaun Wright-Phillips came close to giving them an early lead.

An inswinging free-kick from Frank Lampard was only half-cleared and the Manchester City winger seized on the loose ball and was only just wide with his 20-yard drive.

Then after four minutes three Aston Villa players either past or present combined as Peter Crouch broke the deadlock.

Gareth Barry's perfectly timed pass was latched upon by Gabriel Agbonlahor and he had time to pick out the run into the box of Crouch.

The Tottenham striker was able to scramble the ball over the line despite the presence of Sergei Sosnovsky for his 17th goal in 35 internationals.

Belarus tried to retaliate but Sergei Kornilenko dragged his shot wide from a corner played in to the near post.

England looked full of confidence with their revamped line-up with Barry spraying the ball around effectively in midfield. Crouch was brought down just outside the Belarus box by Igor Shitov but Frank Lampard's free-kick was blocked by the defensive wall.

There was a carnival atmosphere in the stadium with England already assured of their place in the 2010 finals.

Crouch, in his first international start of the campaign, came within a couple of feet of doubling England's lead.

He climbed above the Belarus defence to send a powerful header just past the post from a Lampard corner which had been needlessly conceded by Aleksandr Yurevich.

Belarus keeper Yury Zhevnov needed treatment when he collided with Shaun Wright-Phillips when punching clear a Glen Johnson cross. Agbonlahor had his first chance to run at the Belarus defence after 20 minutes and he had the confidence to burst into the box and force a save out of Zhevnov.

Barry then got on the end of a Lampard corner but his header lacked any power and did not test Zhevnov.

England unsurprisingly were dominating possession and it needed a good interception from Verkhovtsov to halt Wright-Phillips' burst of pace which took him into the danger area.

David Beckham drew enormous applause from the crowd when he warmed up on the touchline.

Johnson had the chance to score his first international goal when he found himself well placed inside the Belarus area.

But he mis-hit his shot to such an extent that it flew out of play for a throw-in.

Johnson's habit of making occasional defensive lapses almost cost England when he was dispossessed by Bordachev on the left flank, but his low pass in the direction of Kornilenko was over-hit.

Terry conceded a free-kick just outside the England box when he brought down Kornilenko.

Kulchy rolled the ball to Omelyanchuk, whose low shot got past the wall but was straight at Foster.

The England fans indulged in a Mexican wave all around the stadium, which persisted for several minutes.

Terry had a volley blocked by Shitov after Crouch had won the ball in the air, but the game had gone off the boil.